PALMER STATION
SCIENCE MONTHLY REPORT
April 2004
James McClintock, Station Science Leader
NEWS FROM THE LABORATORY
James McClintock, Station Science Leader
The arrival of the R/V Gould at Palmer Station on April 3 brought three
additional members of B-022-P to Palmer Station where they joined the
balance of their research team already at the station. The departure of the
full compliment of members of B-016-L/P, B-013-L/P and B-045-L/P
aboard the R/V Gould on April 8 heralded the end of the LTER season
here at Palmer Station. In addition, one of the three PIs of B-022-P
(Amsler) departed on the same cruise. Shortening daylight and a few days
of high winds put some constraints on boat operations; yet the marine
chemical ecology members of B-022-P and station personnel assisting the
birders (B-013-P) were able to effectively work their targeted field
operations for the month around these limitations. The air temperature
reached a maximum of +7.3”C and a minimum of Š6.1”C. Winds reached
51 knots, and averaged six knots over the month. Fifteen days with
snowfall produced 47 cm of snow, bringing the total for the year to 65 cm.
The annual census of Giant Petrel Chicks directed by the birders (B-013-
P) continued with the able assistance of station personnel Barb Watson,
Sonja Wolter and Dan Weisblatt. Several trips per week were made to
visit the nesting sites on Humble Island and station personnel reported
that towards the end of the month many of the chicks were observed to be
fledging.
On April 22 the entire station joined in recognizing and celebrating "Earth
Day". Divers from B-022-P made several dives off the dock to recover
debris from the sea floor including an assortment of pipes, rods, bottles,
cans, a hammer, and a large tire. Station personnel helped hoist the debris
in dive bags on to the dock. The highlight was a photograph of the station
residents standing behind the pile of debris. This photograph was
forwarded to representatives of the National Science Foundation Office of
Polar Programs. Both Dr. Karl Erb (Director) and Dr. Polly Penhale
(Biology and Medicine Program Director) expressed their enthusiastic
gratitude and support to members of the entire station for supporting this
event.
Social events at Palmer Station included cross town pizza upon the arrival
of the Gould, the continuation of regular Wednesday night science lectures,
and the kick off of Saturday night continental darts. Moreover, a two-day
fishing contest was held to assist members of B-022-P with the collection
of live fish to be used for behavioral feeding assays.
The following projects conducted research at Palmer Station during April:
B-022-P: THE CHEMICAL ECOLOGY OF SHALLOW-WATER
MARINE MACROALGAE AND INVERTEBRATES ON THE
ANTARCTIC PENINSULA
Charles Amsler and James McClintock, Principal Investigators, University
of Alabama at Birmingham, Bill Baker, Principal Investigator, University
of South Florida
Personnel of station: Bill Baker, James McClintock, Maggie Amsler, Anne
Fairhead, Dan Martin, Kevin Peters, Hla Win
Three additional team members (Bill Baker, James McClintock, Dan
Martin) arrived at Palmer Station on LMG04-03 the morning of April 3,
2004. One of the team members, Chuck Amsler, departed aboard the
return leg of LMG04-03 on April 8 after coordinating research efforts with
the new team members.
During April our group completed 39 dives. These included several
maintenance dives per week in early April on ongoing substrate
experiments in Kristie Cove that are examining the effects of increased
ultraviolet radiation on algal metabolites that may exhibit defensive roles
against both ultraviolet radiation and herbivores. On both April 12 and
April 14, one dive was made to retrieve the experimental plants held on
these substrates and the plants were returned to the laboratory for
subsequent gravimetric and chemical analysis. All of the concrete
substrates were subsequently retrieved from Kristie Cove on April 20 to
be retrograded to Punta Arenas. The balance of the dives during the month
of April, with the exception of Earth Day (see below), targeted the
collection of specific macroalgae and invertebrates for defensive chemistry
analysis.
On April 22, as part of a station wide "Earth Day" event, two dives were
made by members of B-022 to collect debris from the sea floor off the
dock in front of Palmer Station. Divers retrieved old bottles, pieces of
metal rods, a hammer, cans, and a large tire. Station personnel assisted in
hoisting the debris out of the water. A group photograph of Palmer
Station residents surrounding the debris culminated the event.
Ongoing laboratory activities included secondary metabolite purification
and or/quantification using colorimetric, HPLC, and GC techniques. In
addition, numerous sea star "taste tester" feeding bioassays were
conducted. Finally, an ongoing laboratory based experiment examining the
potential for the induction of chemical defenses in macroalgae under
different herbivore treatments was completed on April 26.
We are most thankful for the professional support of numerous RPSC
staff. Rick Lichtenhan, Sonja Wolter, Barb Watson and Gary Jirschelle
deserve special gratitude for facilitating our field and laboratory operations.
G-052-P GPS CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING REFERENCE
STATION.
Jerry Mullins, Principal Investigator, U.S. Geological Survey
The Research Associate operates and maintains on-site equipment for the
project. Throughout the month, 15-second GPS epoch data was collected
continually at station PALM, compressed, and transmitted to the USGS in
Reston, VA.
High inbound use of PalmerÕs satellite internet link caused occasional
difficulties in timely delivery of the daily data files to Reston, apparently
due to the extreme delay in the inbound acknowledgements required by
even outbound ftp. In some cases where the delays seemed likely to be
extensive, the files were emailed to a computer in the US and then ftpÕd
from there. Discussions are under way to increase the priority of ftp
packets to allow data transfers of these small files to occur even under
conditions of heavy network usage.
Realtime dGPS techniques were used to survey the vertical position of the
glacier, to adjust the VLF antenna configuration, to determine a location of
the UV monitor, and to aid in tracking the recession of the glacier face
north of Arthur Harbor.
G-090-P GLOBAL SEISMOGRAPH NETWORK (GSN) SITE AT
PALMER STATION.
Rhett Butler, Principal Investigator, Incorporated Research Institutions for
Seismology (IRIS)
The Research Associate operates and maintains on-site equipment for the
project. Station PMSA is one of more than 130 sites in the GSN
monitoring seismic waves produced by events worldwide. Data files are
recorded to tape and also sent real-time to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The only two tape flushes this month both failed on the first tape drive
attempted, /MT1, and the data records were automatically saved to the
second drive, /MT0. The errors occurred after much of the flush had been
performed, and the error messages were different in the two cases, so the
jury is out on whether this is a tape drive problem or a case of
coincidentally bad tapes. The USGS is sending new drives in case the
problems continue or a prophylactic solution is chosen.
O-204-O A STUDY OF ATMOSPHERIC OXYGEN VARIABILITY
IN RELATION TO ANNUAL TO DECADAL VARIATIONS IN
TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE ECOSYSTEMS.
Ralph Keeling, Principal Investigator, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Air samples are collected on a semiweekly basis by the station physician.
The goal of this project is to resolve seasonal and interannual variations in
atmospheric O2 (detected through changes in O2/N2 ratio), which can aid in
determining rates of marine biological productivity and ocean mixing. The
results are also used to help determine the terrestrial and oceanic
distribution of the global anthropogenic CO2 sink. The program involves
air sampling at a network of sites in both the Northern and Southern
Hemispheres. Palmer Station is especially well situated for resolving
signals of carbon cycling in the Southern Ocean. Samples taken from the
station are sent to Scripps where the analysis of O2 and CO2 content takes
place.
O-264-O COLLECTION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FOR THE
NOAA\CMDL WORLDWIDE FLASK SAMPLING NETWORK.
David Hofmann, Principal Investigator, Climate Monitoring and
Diagnostics Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate
Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory continues its long-term
measurements of carbon dioxide and other climate relevant atmospheric
gases. The Palmer Station air samples are returned to the NOAA
laboratory for analysis as part of NOAA's effort to determine and assess
the long-term buildup of global pollutants in the atmosphere. Data from
this experiment will be used in modeling studies to determine how the rate
of change of these parameters affects climate. Air samples are collected on
a weekly basis by the station physician.
O-275-O DOE-EML REMOTE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS
PROGRAM (RAMP).
Colin Sanderson, Principal Investigator, Department of Energy,
Environmental Measurements Laboratory
The RAMP system is part of a global network seeking to characterize the
quantity and distribution of radionuclide particles occurring both naturally
and artificially in the atmosphere. One sample filter was exposed for the
duration of each week, and a weekly schedule of calibration, background,
and sample counts was maintained. The Research Associate operates and
maintains on-site equipment for the project.
O-283-P ANTARCTIC AUTOMATIC WEATHER STATIONS
(AWS).
Charles Stearns, Principal Investigator, University of Wisconsin
The Research Associate monitors data transmissions for the project. AWS
transmissions from Bonaparte Point, Hugo Island, and Racer Rock were
monitored using the TeraScan system, with only Bonaparte Point
currently operational. AWS data received was also forwarded to UCSB
for B-032-P (Smith).
A-306-P GLOBAL THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AND ITS
EFFECTS ON THE RADIATION BELTS AND THE LOWER
IONOSPHERE.
Umran Inan, Principal Investigator, Stanford University
The Research Associate operates and maintains on-site equipment for the
project. The Stanford equipment receives and records Very Low
Frequency (VLF) radio waves in order to study natural ionospheric and
magnetospheric phenomena, as well as to study the distribution of the
lightning strikes that are a principle source of natural VLF signals.
Broadband synoptic data was recorded on a schedule of 3 out of every 15
minutes each day, and broadband continuous data was recorded for 6
hours/day. Narrowband continuous data was collected for 12 hours each
day.
Significant additional work was done on the glacier cable run and antenna
this month. A new post was planted in the backyard just across the
terminus from the glacier, to lift the cables from the water and mud at the
terminus. The messenger cable was tightened over the extent of its run on
the glacier, and it was also adjusted to provide needed slack for the signal
cable near the mid-glacier junction box. Finally, the antenna was adjusted
to a more proper configuration by lengthening the bases of the loops, thus
decreasing the droop, and by lowering the east insulator while raising the
west insulator, thus leveling the antennaÕs base with respect to geocentric
coordinates, rather than the sloping glaciocentric system.
The broadband computers continued to exhibit occasional glitches
including sporadic lock-ups, missed synoptics, vanishing acquisition
programs, etc. Fortunately all but the missed synoptics happened very
rarely and were easily "fixed" by rebooting. Early in the month the missed
synoptics were occurring frequently (taking as many as 25% of all
observations in a day and up to 50% during certain intervals), and were
determined to be tied to the same sluggish ftp problem discussed above in
the G-052-P section. After consultation with the grantees, the processing
and transfer sequence following the acquisition of each synoptic was
disabled, and no recordings have been missed since.
A multifrequency calibration of the VLF system response was performed.
Special broadband VLF recordings were made in support of a number of
targeted campaigns this month. Data files coinciding with passes of the
CAWSES, TIPER, and QuakeSat satellites were all recorded.
T-312-O TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM.
Dan Lubin, Principal Investigator, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
The Research Associate operates and maintains on-site equipment for the
project. Throughout the month, the TeraScan system collected, archived,
and processed DMSP, NOAA and Orbview (SeaWiFS) satellite telemetry,
capturing approximately 25-30 passes per day. Weekly 85GHz SSM/I ice
concentration images were produced and transferred to UCSB for B-032-P
(Smith).
Extensive sea ice imagery support, often two images a day, was provided
to the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD, O-124-L (Visbeck) and G-096-L
(Domack).
The final Orbview-2 pass of the season was captured on 16 April; the next
one will come in mid to late August, and will herald the return of the sun
toward the southern hemisphere.
A modified list of previously identified and archived "clear" SeaWiFS
passes was provided to a grantee with B-016-P (Vernet).
T-513-O ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRORADIOMETER NETWORK
Charles Booth, Principal Investigator, Biospherical Instruments, Inc
The Research Associate operates and maintains on-site equipment for the
project. A BSI SUV-100 UV spectroradiometer produces full sky
irradiance spectra ranging from the atmospheric UV cutoff near 290nm up
to 605nm, four times per hour, while the sun is above the horizon. A BSI
GUV-511 filter radiometer, which has 4 channels in the UV and 1 channel
in the visible for measuring Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR), is
located next to the SUV-100. Data from the GUV-511 instrument is made
available on a daily basis on the projectÕs website
www.biospherical.com/nsf/ .
Scheduled absolute calibrations were performed on 09 and 23 April.
The position of the SUV-100 collector, determined using real-time dGPS
and including a reference to mean sea level, was provided to the grantees.
TIDE GAGE
Tony Amos, Point of Contact, The University of Texas Marine Science
Institute
The Research Associate operates and maintains on-site equipment for the
project. Tide height, seawater temperature, and salinity are monitored on a
continual basis by a gage mounted at the Palmer Station pier.
METEOROLOGY
The Research Associate acts as chief weather observer, and compiles and
distributes meteorological data. At the end of the month a summary report
is prepared and sent to interested parties. Weather data collected using the
automated electronic system is archived locally and forwarded
semimonthly to the University of Wisconsin for their forecasting models
and data records. Synoptic reports are automatically generated every 6
hours by the Palmer Meteorological Observing System (PalMOS) and
emailed to the NOAA for entry into the Global Telecommunications
System (GTS). Current weather observations for all Antarctic stations,
including Palmer, are available on the web at:
http://www.wunderground.com/global/AA.html.
Early in the month, the "present weather" sensor failed, reporting an error
condition indicating a bad sensor head assembly, and repairs are not likely
to be possible on-site. The reporting of "weather" information such as
rain, snow, fog, etc., was disabled in the synoptic report generator.
The internal clock on the PalMOS ZENO datalogger, which had drifted to
two minutes and 13 seconds fast, was reset. For a still unknown reason,
making this adjustment stopped the datalogger dead in its tracks, and
power had to be disconnected and reconnected at the electronics enclosure
to restore operation.
Proper readings from the PalMOS temperature and relative humidity
sensor were verified with a calibrated handheld probe.
A significant number of old charts in Intercept were deleted; minimizing
chart windows does not cause the charts to go away, only to be very well
hidden, so months or years worth of chart windows were active in the
background.